Chloroplast transit peptides for efficient targeting of DMO and uses thereof

ABSTRACT

The invention provides for identification and use of certain chloroplast transit peptides for efficient processing and localization of dicamba monooxygenase (DMO) enzyme in transgenic plants. Methods for producing dicamba tolerant plants, methods for controlling weed growth, and methods for producing food, feed, and other products are also provided, as well as seed that confers tolerance to dicamba when it is applied pre- or post-emergence.

This application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 13/326,204, filed Dec. 14, 2011, which application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 12/914,901, filed Oct. 28, 2010, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,084,666, which application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 11/758,659, filed Jun. 5, 2007, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,838,729, which claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/891,675, filed Feb. 26, 2007, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to the field of plant biotechnology. More particularly, the invention relates to identification and use of chloroplast transit peptides allowing efficient processing and localization of dicamba monooxygenase enzymes in plants.

2. Description of the Related Art

DMO (dicamba monooxygenase) catalyzes the degradation of the herbicide dicamba (3,6-dichloro-o-anisic acid) to non-toxic 3,6-dichlorosalicylic acid (3,6-DCSA) in plants, thus conferring herbicide tolerance. Activity of DMO requires two intermediary proteins for shuttling electrons from NADH to dicamba, a reductase and a ferredoxin (U.S. Pat. No. 7,022,896; Herman et al., 2005). However dicamba tolerance in transgenic plants has been demonstrated through transformation with DMO alone, indicating that a plant's endogenous reductase and ferredoxin may substitute in shuttling the electrons. The plant ferredoxin that is involved in electron transfer is localized in the plastids. Thus, in order to obtain efficient performance of DMO and thus improved tolerance to dicamba, there is a need for targeting the DMO to chloroplasts.

In many cases, this targeting may be achieved by the presence of an N-terminal extension, called a chloroplast transit peptide (CTP) or plastid transit peptide. Chromosomal transgenes from bacterial sources must have a sequence encoding a CTP sequence fused to a sequence encoding an expressed polypeptide if the expressed polypeptide is to be compartmentalized in the plant plastid (e.g. chloroplast). Accordingly, localization of an exogenous polypeptide to a chloroplast is often accomplished by means of operably linking a polynucleotide sequence encoding a CTP sequence to the 5′ region of a polynucleotide encoding the exogenous polypeptide. The CTP is removed in a processing step during translocation into the plastid. Processing efficiency may, however, be affected by the amino acid sequence of the CTP and nearby sequences at the NH₂ terminus of the peptide.

Weeks et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 7,022,896) describe potential use of a maize cab-m7 signal sequence (see Becker et al., 1992 and PCT WO 97/41228; GenBank Accession No. X53398) and a pea glutathione reductase signal sequence (Creissen et al., 1992 and PCT WO 97/41228) in targeting DMO to plant plastids, but no data on efficiency of processing or targeting is given. A pea Rubisco small subunit (RbcS) CTP including a 27 aa sequence including coding sequence for pea Rubisco enzyme small subunit has also been used to target DMO to chloroplasts (e.g. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/811,152). However, it has been found during Western blot analysis that this pea RbcS CTP generates a correctly processed DMO protein band (˜38 kDa), but also a larger band (˜41 kDa) corresponding to that of DMO and the 27 aa of RbcS coding region. The extra amino acids could impact the DMO activity adversely. In addition, additional proteins in a transgenic product due to incomplete processing of DMO create regulatory hurdles and require additional efforts in characterization of the product for the purposes of product registration by government agencies thereby raising the cost of product registration. Thus, there is a need for identifying CTPs that efficiently generate correctly processed DMO, thereby providing the advantage of full DMO activity as well as ease of product characterization.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention relates to a recombinant DNA molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a chloroplast transit peptide operably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding dicamba monooxygenase, wherein the nucleotide sequence encodes a chloroplast transit peptide comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 1-11. In certain embodiments, the recombinant DNA molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 12-22. In certain embodiments, the recombinant DNA molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding dicamba monooxygenase selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40. A DNA construct comprising the DNA molecule operably linked to a promoter which is functional in a plant cell is also an aspect of the invention.

In another aspect, the invention comprises a plant cell transformed with a DNA molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a chloroplast transit peptide operably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding dicamba monooxygenase, wherein the sequence of the chloroplast transit peptide is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 1-11. In certain embodiments, the recombinant DNA molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 12-22. In certain embodiments, the DNA molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding a dicamba monooxygenase selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40, wherein the DNA molecule is operably linked to a promoter which is functional in a plant cell. In particular embodiments the DNA molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, and 39.

In certain embodiments, the plant cell is a dicotyledonous plant cell. In other embodiments, the plant cell is a monocotyledonous plant cell. In particular embodiments, the plant cell is a soybean, cotton, maize, or rapeseed plant cell. The invention also relates to a plant tissue culture comprising such a cell, and to a transgenic seed and to a transgenic plant comprising such cells. In certain embodiments, the transgenic seed or plant is a dicotyledonous seed or plant. In other embodiments, the transgenic seed or plant is a monocotyledonous seed or plant. The transgenic seed or plant may be a soybean, cotton, maize or rapeseed seed or plant.

The invention further relates to a method for producing a dicamba tolerant plant comprising: introducing a recombinant DNA molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a chloroplast transit peptide operably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding dicamba monooxygenase, wherein the nucleotide sequence encoding the chloroplast transit peptide is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 12-22, into a plant cell, and regenerating a plant therefrom. In certain embodiments, the recombinant DNA molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding dicamba monooxygenase which is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40. The DNA molecule may be operably linked to a promoter which is functional in a plant cell. The method may further comprise producing a dicamba tolerant plant by crossing a parent plant with itself or with a second plant, wherein the parent plant and/or the second plant comprises the DNA construct and the dicamba tolerant plant inherits the DNA construct from said parent plant and/or the second plant.

A method for expressing dicamba monooxygenase in a plant cell comprising operably linking a selected CTP to a sequence encoding dicamba monooxygenase is a further aspect of the invention.

In another aspect, the invention relates to a method for controlling weed growth in a crop growing environment, comprising: growing such a plant or a seed thereof, and applying to the crop growing environment an amount of dicamba herbicide effective to control weed growth. The dicamba herbicide may be applied over the top to the crop growing environment, whereby the amount of dicamba herbicide does not damage said plant of or seed thereof and damages a plant or seed of the same genotype as such a plant or seed but lacking the construct.

A further aspect of the invention relates to a method for producing food, feed, or an industrial product comprising:

-   -   a) obtaining a plant comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a         promoter functional in a plant cell operably linked in the 5′ to         3′ direction to a nucleotide sequence encoding a chloroplast         transit peptide and a nucleotide sequence encoding dicamba         monooxygenase, or a part thereof;     -   b) preparing the food, feed, fiber, or industrial product from         the plant or part thereof.         In certain embodiments of the method, the food or feed is grain,         meal, oil, starch, flour, or protein. In other embodiments of         the method, the industrial product is biofuel, fiber, industrial         chemicals, a pharmaceutical, or nutraceutical.

A dicamba tolerant seed for providing protection against pre emergence application of dicamba comprising a DNA encoding chloroplast transit peptide operably linked to a DNA encoding dicamba monooxygenase is a further aspect of the invention. In certain embodiments, the dicamba tolerant seed comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding a chloroplast transit peptide, such as a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 12-22. The dicamba tolerant seed may further comprise a nucleotide sequence encoding dicamba monooxygenase selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for improving the standability of a monocot plant comprising: a) obtaining and growing a plant produced by crossing a parent plant with itself or with a second plant, wherein the parent plant and/or the second plant comprises the DNA construct and the dicamba tolerant plant inherits the DNA construct from said parent plant and/or the second plant; and b) treating the plant with dicamba. In certain embodiments, the plant is a corn plant. In yet other embodiments, standability-related parameters including brace root shape, number, length, and/or structure; percent lodging; and yield may be measured.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 Use of CTP-DMO constructs for proper processing of DMO and provision of dicamba tolerance.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention, compositions and methods are provided for expressing and transporting dicamba monooxygenase (DMO) polypeptides with increased efficiency to chloroplasts in plant cells. The compositions and methods of the invention will therefore find use in increasing the tolerance of plants and cells to the herbicide dicamba. By targeting DMO to chloroplasts with a chloroplast transit peptide (CTP) in particular, improved DMO expression and tolerance to dicamba may be achieved.

Surprisingly, however, the present inventors have discovered that certain CTPs do not function well in combination with DMO. For example, some CTPs do not result in adequate protein expression. This can include incorrect expression of the protein, with the production of proteins of altered size and incomplete activity in vivo. This can result in incomplete herbicide tolerance and complicate regulatory approval. The present invention provides CTPs that, when used in combination with DMO, provide unexpected benefits including, but not necessarily limited to, improved levels of transport to the chloroplast, increased herbicide tolerance in DMO-expressing transgenic plants, desired levels of protein expression of the correct size, and appropriate post-translational modifications. One such example of a CTP providing unexpected benefits when in combination with DMO is the transit peptide CTP2, including the nucleic acids of SEQ ID NO:15 or 16, and including sequences encoding SEQ ID NOs:4 or 5. In other embodiments, a pea (Pisum sativum) Rubisco small subunit CTP coding sequence is used, such as represented by SEQ ID NO:13 or encoding SEQ ID NO:2. A DNA construct comprising a DMO coding sequence operably linked to a CTP2and/or pea Rubisco small subunit CTP transit peptide coding sequence thus forms one aspect of the invention, as does a protein encoded thereby.

Dicamba monooxygenase of Pseudomonas maltophilia strain DI6 (Herman et al., 2005; U.S. Patent Publication 20030115626; GenBank accession AY786443, the DMO-encoding sequence of which is herein incorporated by reference) catalyzes the detoxification of the herbicide dicamba. DMO is part of a 3-component system for detoxification of dicamba to the non-toxic 3,6-dichlorosalicylic acid (3,6-DCSA), and as noted above requires reductase and ferredoxin functions for transfer of electrons. Since the endogenous plant ferredoxin that is involved in electron transfer is localized in the plastids, in order to obtain efficient activity of DMO and thus tolerance such as in dicots or improved tolerance such as in monocots to dicamba, DMO is preferably targeted to plastids (e.g. chloroplasts).

Chloroplast transit peptides (CTPs) were tested for efficiency in allowing targeting and processing of DMO to plastids. Plastid localization and processing of the DMO in connection with these CTPs ranged from none, or partial, to complete. Only some of the CTPs were found to allow complete processing of DMO to a correct size. The ability of any given CTP to provide for complete and efficient processing of DMO was therefore unpredictable and surprising based on its protein or nucleotide sequences.

Further, it has also been found in Arabidopsis that without a proper CTP, there is little or no expression of DMO correlating with little or no tolerance to dicamba. This suggests that chloroplast targeting is important for dicamba detoxification and hence tolerance. CTPs that allow efficient processing of DMO will be useful in targeting DMO to plastids, such as chloroplasts, of crop plants thereby providing the advantage of full DMO activity and higher tolerance to dicamba as well as ease of product characterization and reduced cost of registration.

Chimeric DNA molecules comprising a DNA encoding a chloroplast transit peptide operably linked to a DNA encoding dicamba monooxygenase can be prepared by molecular biological methods known to those skilled in this art (e.g. Sambrook et al., 1989). CTPs operably linked to known DNA molecules encoding DMO, including those identified in Table 1, are provided by the invention for the improved expression of DMO in plants.

A chloroplast transit peptide from any gene that is encoded in the nucleus and the product of which targets a polypeptide to the chloroplast can be tested for efficient expression of DMO. Chloroplast transit peptide sequences can be isolated or synthesized. The nucleotide sequence encoding a CTP may be optimized for expression in dicots, monocots, or both. The following transit peptides were tested by operably linking each to a DMO coding sequence: PsRbcS-derived CTPs (SEQ ID NO:1 and 2: Pisum sativum Rubisco small subunit CTP; Coruzzi et al., 1984); AtRbcS CTP (SEQ ID NO:3: Arabidopsis thaliana Rubisco small subunit 1A CTP; CTP1; U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,925); AtShkG CTP (SEQ ID NO:4: Arabidopsis thaliana 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS); CTP2; Klee et al., 1987); AtShkGZm CTP (SEQ ID NO:5: CTP2synthetic; codon optimized for monocot expression; SEQ ID NO:14 of WO04009761); PhShkG CTP (SEQ ID NO:6: Petunia hybrida EPSPS; CTP4; codon optimized for monocot expression; Gasser et al., 1988); TaWaxy CTP (SEQ ID NO:7: Triticum aestivum granule-bound starch synthase CTPsynthetic, codon optimized for corn expression: Clark et al., 1991): OsWaxy CTP (SEQ ID NO:8: Oryza sativa starch synthase CTP; Okagaki, 1992); NtRbcS CTP (SEQ ID NO: 9: Nicotiana tabacum ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit chloroplast transit peptide; Mazur, et al., 1985); ZmAS CTP (SEQ ID NO:10: Zea mays anthranilate synthase alpha 2 subunit gene CTP; Gardiner et al., 2004); and RgAS CTP (SEQ ID NO:11: Ruta graveolens anthranilate synthase CTP; Bohlmann, et al., 1995). The nucleotide sequences coding for SEQ ID NO:1-SEQ ID NO:11 are given in SEQ ID NO:12-SEQ ID NO:22, respectively.

Other transit peptides that may be useful include maize cab-m7 signal sequence (Becker et al., 1992; PCT WO 97/41228) and the pea (Pisum sativum) glutathione reductase signal sequence (Creissen et al., 1995; PCT WO 97/41228). CTPs with additional amino acids derived from the coding region of the gene they are part of or are fused to, such as AtRbcS CTP which includes the transit peptide, 24 amino acids of the mature Rubisco protein, and then a repeat of the last 6 amino acids of the transit peptide, can be utilized for producing DMO. ZmAS CTP also contain additional 18 amino acids derived from the coding region of the gene. Other CTPs with additional amino acids (for example 27 amino acids) derived from the coding region of the gene they are part of, such as PsRbcS CTP, followed by amino acids introduced by cloning methods (for example 3 amino acids) can also be utilized for producing DMO. CTPs with fewer amino acids (for example 21 amino acids) coding for a full length CTP such as RgAs CTP can also be utilized for producing DMO. Preferably, a nucleic acid sequence coding for a full length CTP is utilized. One or more nucleotide additions or deletions may be included to facilitate cloning of a CTP. These additions or deletions may be after or before other expression elements and coding regions, resulting in modification of one or more encoded amino acids, for instance at or near a restriction enzyme recognition site.

In one embodiment, the invention relates to a nucleic acid sequence encoding a chloroplast transit peptide that has at least 70% identity to a polypeptide sequence of any one or more of SEQ ID NOs: 1-11, including at least about 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 97%, 98%, 99% and greater sequence identity to these sequences, including 100% identity. In particular embodiments, the nucleic acid sequence encodes a chloroplast transit peptide identical to one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-11. In another embodiment, the nucleic acid coding for the CTP has at least 70% sequence identity to a nucleic acid sequence of any one or more of SEQ ID NOs:12-22, including at least about 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 97%, 98%, 99% and greater sequence identity, including 100% identity, to one or more of these sequences. Polypeptide or polynucleotide comparisons of these and any other sequence as described herein may be carried out and identity determined as is well known in the art, for example, using MEGAlign (DNAStar, Inc., 1228 S. Park St., Madison, Wis.) with default parameters. Such software matches similar sequences by assigning degrees of similarity or identity.

DMO can be targeted to other organelles such as mitochondria by using pre-sequences to make use of the ferrodoxin redox system present in this organelle. Alternatively, DMO can be targeted to both chloroplast and mitochondria by a dual-targeting peptide to make use of two ferrodoxin redox systems to work even more effectively. Such elements are known to those skilled in the art. For example, mitochondrial pre-sequences are described in Silva Filho et al., (1996). Nucleic acid sequences that encode dual-targeting peptide sequences can be identified from the nucleic acids coding for the following proteins which are known be targeted to both chloroplasts and mitochondria: Zn-MP (Moberg et al., 2003), gluthathione reductase (Rudhe et al., 2002; Creissen et al., 1995) and histdyl-tRNA synthetase (Akashi et al., 1998). Examples of DMO-encoding sequences that may be used in this regard are found, for example, in the sequences encoding the polypeptides of SEQ ID NOs 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, as shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 DMO and DMO variants utilized. Pre- Pre- dict- Pre- dicted ed dicted PRT DNA aa at aa at aa at DMO/or SEQ SEQ PRT posi- posi- position Codon variant ID ID Length tion 2 tion 3 112 usage DMO- 24 23 340 Ala Thr Cys dicot Cat(A) DMO- 26 25 340 Leu Thr Cys dicot Cat(L) DMO- 28 27 340 Leu Thr Trp dicot Wat(L) DMO- 30 29 340 Ala Thr Cys bacteria Cnat(A) DMO- 32 31 340 Ala Thr Trp dicot Wat(A) DMO- 34 33 339 Thr Phe Trp bacterium Wnat(T) (at 111) DMO- 36 35 340 Leu Thr Cys bacterium Cnat(L) DMO- 38 37 340 Leu Thr Trp monocot Wmc(L) DMO- 40 39 340 Ala Thr Trp monocot Wmc(A)

In some embodiments, the nucleic acid encoding a dicamba monooxygenase has at least 70% identity to a sequence that encodes a polypeptide of any of SEQ ID NOs:24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, or 40, including at least about 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 97%, 98%, 99% and greater sequence identity to these sequences. In certain embodiments, the nucleic acid has at least 70% sequence identity to a nucleic acid sequence of any of SEQ ID NOs: 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, or 39, including at least about 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 97%, 98%, 99%, and greater sequence identity to one of these sequences. In further embodiments, a dicamba monooxygenase may be a variant of any such sequences and/or may be a synthetic DMO molecule engineered, for example, as described in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/884,854, filed Jan. 12, 2007, entitled “DMO Methods And Compositions,” the entire disclosure of which is specifically incorporated herein by reference.

Variants of DMOs having a capability to degrade auxin-like herbicides, as well as glyphosate or other herbicide tolerance genes can readily be prepared and assayed for activity according to standard methods. Such sequences can also be identified by techniques known in the art, for example, from suitable organisms including bacteria that degrade auxin-like herbicides, such as dicamba, or other herbicides (U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,962; Cork and Krueger, 1991; Cork and Khalil, 1995). One means of isolating a DMO or other sequence is by nucleic acid hybridization, for example, to a library constructed from the source organism, or by RT-PCR using mRNA from the source organism and primers based on the disclosed desaturases. The invention therefore encompasses use of nucleic acids hybridizing under stringent conditions to a DMO encoding sequence described herein. One of skill in the art understands that conditions may be rendered less stringent by increasing salt concentration and decreasing temperature. Thus, hybridization conditions can be readily manipulated, and thus will generally be a method of choice depending on the desired results. An example of high stringency conditions is 5×SSC, 50% formamide and 42° C. By conducting a wash under such conditions, for example, for 10 minutes, those sequences not hybridizing to a particular target sequence under these conditions can be removed.

Variants can also be chemically synthesized, for example, using the known DMO polynucleotide sequences according to techniques well known in the art. For instance, DNA sequences may be synthesized by phosphoroamidite chemistry in an automated DNA synthesizer. Chemical synthesis has a number of advantages. In particular, chemical synthesis is desirable because codons preferred by the host in which the DNA sequence will be expressed may be used to optimize expression. Not all of the codons need to be altered to obtain improved expression, but preferably at least the codons rarely used in the host are changed to host-preferred codons. High levels of expression can be obtained by changing greater than about 50%, most preferably at least about 80%, of the codons to host-preferred codons. The codon preferences of many host cells are known (e.g. PCT WO 97/31115; PCT WO 97/11086; EP 646643; EP 553494; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,689,052; 5,567,862; 5,567,600; 5,552,299 and 5,017,692). The codon preferences of other host cells can be deduced by methods known in the art. Also, using chemical synthesis, the sequence of the DNA molecule or its encoded protein can be readily changed to, for example, optimize expression (for example, eliminate mRNA secondary structures that interfere with transcription or translation), add unique restriction sites at convenient points, and delete protease cleavage sites.

Modification and changes may be made to the polypeptide sequence of a protein such as the DMO sequences provided herein while retaining or modifying enzymatic activity as desired. Illustrative methods for generating DMO sequences are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/884,854, filed Jan. 12, 2007. The following is a discussion based upon changing the amino acids of a protein to create an equivalent, or even an improved, modified polypeptide and corresponding coding sequences. It is known, for example, that certain amino acids may be substituted for other amino acids in a protein structure without appreciable loss of interactive binding capacity with structures such as binding sites on substrate molecules. Since it is the interactive capacity and nature of a protein that defines that protein's biological functional activity, certain amino acid sequence substitutions can be made in a protein sequence, and, of course, its underlying DNA coding sequence, and nevertheless obtain a protein with like properties. It is thus contemplated that various changes may be made in the DMO peptide sequences described herein or other herbicide tolerance polypeptides and corresponding DNA coding sequences without appreciable loss of their biological utility or activity.

In making such changes, the hydropathic index of amino acids may be considered. The importance of the hydropathic amino acid index in conferring interactive biologic function on a protein is generally understood in the art (Kyte et al., 1982). It is accepted that the relative hydropathic character of the amino acid contributes to the secondary structure of the resultant protein, which in turn defines the interaction of the protein with other molecules, for example, enzymes, substrates, receptors, DNA, antibodies, antigens, and the like. Each amino acid has been assigned a hydropathic index on the basis of their hydrophobicity and charge characteristics (Kyte et al., 1982), these are: isoleucine (+4.5); valine (+4.2); leucine (+3.8); phenylalanine (+2.8); cysteine/cystine (+2.5); methionine (+1.9); alanine (+1.8); glycine (−0.4); threonine (−0.7); serine (−0.8); tryptophan (−0.9); tyrosine (−1.3); proline (−1.6); histidine (−3.2); glutamate (−3.5); glutamine (−3.5); aspartate (−3.5); asparagine (−3.5); lysine (−3.9); and arginine (−4.5).

It is known in the art that amino acids may be substituted by other amino acids having a similar hydropathic index or score and still result in a protein with similar biological activity, i.e., still obtain a biological functionally equivalent protein. In making such changes, the substitution of amino acids whose hydropathic indices are within ±2 is preferred, those which are within ±1 are particularly preferred, and those within ±0.5 are even more particularly preferred.

It is also understood in the art that the substitution of like amino acids can be made effectively on the basis of hydrophilicity. U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,101 states that the greatest local average hydrophilicity of a protein, as governed by the hydrophilicity of its adjacent amino acids, correlates with a biological property of the protein. As detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,101, the following hydrophilicity values have been assigned to amino acid residues: arginine (+3.0); lysine (+3.0); aspartate (+3.0±1); glutamate (+3.0±1); serine (+0.3); asparagine (+0.2); glutamine (+0.2); glycine (0); threonine (−0.4); proline (−0.5±1); alanine (−0.5); histidine (−0.5); cysteine (−1.0); methionine (−1.3); valine (−1.5); leucine (−1.8); isoleucine (−1.8); tyrosine (−2.3); phenylalanine (−2.5); tryptophan (−3.4). It is understood that an amino acid can be substituted for another having a similar hydrophilicity value and still obtain a biologically equivalent protein. In such changes, the substitution of amino acids whose hydrophilicity values are within ±2 is preferred, those which are within ±1 are particularly preferred, and those within ±0.5 are even more particularly preferred. Exemplary substitutions which take these and various of the foregoing characteristics into consideration are well known to those of skill in the art and include: arginine and lysine; glutamate and aspartate; serine and threonine; glutamine and asparagine; and valine, leucine and isoleucine.

A DNA construct comprising a CTP sequence operably linked to a DMO sequence can be expressed in test system such as protoplasts, transiently or stably transformed plant cells by operably linked them to a promoter functional in plants.

Examples describing such promoters include U.S. Pat. No. 6,437,217 (maize RS81 promoter), U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,876 (rice actin promoter; OsAct1), U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,446 (maize RS324 promoter), U.S. Pat. No. 6,429,362 (maize PR-1 promoter), U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,526 (maize A3 promoter), U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,611 (constitutive maize promoters), U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,322,938, 5,352,605, 5,359,142 and 5,530,196 (35S promoter), U.S. Pat. No. 6,433,252 (maize L3 oleosin promoter), U.S. Pat. No. 6,429,357 (rice actin 2 promoter as well as a rice actin 2 intron), U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,848 (root specific promoter), U.S. Pat. No. 6,294,714 (light inducible promoters), U.S. Pat. No. 6,140,078 (salt inducible promoters), U.S. Pat. No. 6,252,138 (pathogen inducible promoters), U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,060 (phosphorus deficiency inducible promoters), U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,170 (e.g. PClSV promoter), the PClSV promoter of SEQ ID NO:41, U.S. Pat. No. 6,635,806 (gamma-coixin promoter), and U.S. Pat. No. 7,151,204 (maize chloroplast aldolase promoter). Additional promoters that may find use are a nopaline synthase (NOS) promoter (Ebert et al., 1987), the octopine synthase (OCS) promoter (which is carried on tumor-inducing plasmids of Agrobacterium tumefaciens), the caulimovirus promoters such as the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 19S promoter (Lawton et al., 1987), the CaMV 35S promoter (Odell et al., 1985), the figwort mosaic virus 35S-promoter (Walker et al., 1987), the sucrose synthase promoter (Yang et al., 1990), the R gene complex promoter (Chandler et al., 1989), and the chlorophyll a/b binding protein gene promoter, etc. In the present invention, CaMV35S with enhancer sequences (e35S; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,322,938; 5,352,605; 5,359,142; and 5,530,196), FMV35S (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,051,753; 5,378,619), peanut chlorotic streak caulimovirus (PClSV; U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,019), At.Act 7 (Accession # U27811), At.ANT1 (U.S. Patent Application 20060236420), FMV.35S-EF1a (U.S. Patent Application 20050022261), eIF4A10 (Accession # X79008) and AGRtu.nos (GenBank Accession V00087; Depicker et al, 1982; Bevan et al., 1983), rice cytosolic triose phosphate isomerase (OsTPI; U.S. Pat. No. 7,132,528), and rice actin 15 gene (OsAct15; U.S. Patent Application 2006-0162010) promoters may be of particular benefit.

A 5′ UTR that functions as a translation leader sequence is a DNA genetic element located between the promoter sequence of a gene and the coding sequence may be included between a promoter and CTP-DMO sequence. The translation leader sequence is present in the fully processed mRNA upstream of the translation start sequence. The translation leader sequence may affect processing of the primary transcript to mRNA, mRNA stability or translation efficiency. Examples of translation leader sequences include maize and petunia heat shock protein leaders (U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,865), plant virus coat protein leaders, plant rubisco leaders, GmHsp (U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,122), PhDnaK (U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,865), AtAnt1, TEV (Carrington and Freed, 1990), and AGRtunos (GenBank Accession V00087; Bevan et al., 1983) among others. (Turner and Foster, 1995). In the present invention, 5′ UTRs that may in particular find benefit are GmHsp (U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,122), PhDnaK (U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,865), AtAnt1, TEV (Carrington and Freed, 1990), OsAct1 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,876), OsTPI (U.S. Pat. No. 7,132,528), OsAct15 (US Publication No. 20060162010), and AGRtunos (GenBank Accession V00087; Bevan et al., 1983).

The 3′ non-translated sequence, 3′ transcription termination region, or poly adenylation region means a DNA molecule linked to and located downstream of a structural polynucleotide molecule and includes polynucleotides that provide polyadenylation signal and other regulatory signals capable of affecting transcription, mRNA processing or gene expression. The polyadenylation signal functions in plants to cause the addition of polyadenylate nucleotides to the 3′ end of the mRNA precursor. The polyadenylation sequence can be derived from the natural gene, from a variety of plant genes, or from T-DNA genes. These sequences may be included downstream of a CTP-DMO sequence. An example of a 3′ transcription termination region is the nopaline synthase 3′ region (nos 3′; Fraley et al., 1983). The use of different 3′ nontranslated regions is exemplified (Ingelbrecht et al., 1989). Polyadenylation molecules from a Pisum sativum RbcS2 gene (Ps.RbcS2-E9; Coruzzi et al., 1984), AGRtu.nos (Genbank Accession E01312), E6 (Accession # U30508), and TaHsp17 (wheat low molecular weight heat shock protein gene; Accession # X13431) in particular may be of benefit for use with the invention.

In addition to expression elements described above, an intron may be required in between a promoter and a 3′ UTR for expressing a coding region, especially in monocots. An “intron” refers to a polynucleotide molecule that may be isolated or identified from the intervening sequence of a genomic copy of a gene and may be defined generally as a region spliced out during mRNA processing prior to translation. Alternately, introns may be synthetically produced. Introns may themselves contain sub-elements such as cis-elements or enhancer domains that effect the transcription of operably linked genes. A “plant intron” is a native or non-native intron that is functional in plant cells. A plant intron may be used as a regulatory element for modulating expression of an operably linked gene or genes. A polynucleotide molecule sequence in a transformation construct may comprise introns. The introns may be heterologous with respect to the transcribable polynucleotide molecule sequence. Examples of introns include the corn actin intron (U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,876), the corn HSP70 intron (ZmHSP70; U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,347; U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,412), and rice TPI intron (OsTPI; U.S. Pat. No. 7,132,528) and are of benefit in practicing this invention.

The CTP-DMO constructs can be tested for providing proper processing of DMO in a test system such as protoplasts, or transiently or stably transformed plant cells of monocots or dicots by methods known to those skilled in the art of plant tissue culture and transformation. Any of the techniques known in the art for introduction of transgene constructs into plants may be used in accordance with the invention (see, for example, Mild et al., 1993). Suitable methods for transformation of plants are believed to include virtually any method by which DNA can be introduced into a cell, such as by electroporation as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,253; microprojectile bombardment as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,015,580; 5,550,318; 5,538,880; 6,160,208; 6,399,861; and 6,403,865; Agrobacterium-mediated transformation as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,635,055; 5,824,877; 5,591,616; 5,981,840; and 6,384,301; and protoplast transformation as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,184. Through the application of techniques such as these, the cells of virtually any plant species may be stably transformed, and these cells may be developed into transgenic plants. Techniques that may be particularly useful in the context of cotton transformation are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,846,797, 5,159,135, 5,004,863, and 6,624,344. Techniques for transforming Brassica plants in particular are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,750,871; and techniques for transforming soybean are disclosed in, for example, Zhang et al., 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 6,384,301, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,002,058. Techniques for transforming corn are disclosed in WO9506722. Some non-limiting examples of plants that may find use with the invention include alfalfa, barley, beans, beet, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, canola, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, corn, cotton, cucumber, dry bean, eggplant, fennel, garden beans, gourd, leek, lettuce, melon, oat, okra, onion, pea, pepper, pumpkin, peanut, potato, pumpkin, radish, rice, sorghum, soybean, spinach, squash, sweet corn, sugarbeet, sunflower, tomato, watermelon, and wheat.

After effecting delivery of exogenous DNA to recipient cells, the next steps in generating transgenic plants generally concern identifying the transformed cells for further culturing and plant regeneration. In order to improve the ability to identify transformants, one may desire to employ a selectable or screenable marker gene with a transformation vector prepared in accordance with the invention. In this case, one would then generally assay the potentially transformed cell population by exposing the cells to a selective agent or agents, or one would screen the cells for the desired marker gene trait.

Cells that survive the exposure to the selective agent, or cells that have been scored positive in a screening assay, may be cultured in media that supports regeneration of plants. Any suitable plant tissue culture media, for example, MS or N6 media (Murashige and Skoog, 1962; Chu et al., 1975); may be modified by including further substances such as growth regulators. Tissue may be maintained on a basic media with growth regulators until sufficient tissue is available to begin plant regeneration efforts, or following repeated rounds of manual selection, until the morphology of the tissue is suitable for regeneration, typically at least 2 weeks, then transferred to media conducive to shoot formation. Cultures are transferred periodically until sufficient shoot formation had occurred. Once shoot are formed, they are transferred to media conducive to root formation. Once sufficient roots are formed, plants can be transferred to soil for further growth and maturity.

To confirm the presence of the exogenous DNA or “transgene(s)” in the regenerating plants, a variety of assays may be performed. Such assays include, for example, “molecular biological” assays, such as Southern and northern blotting and PCR™; “biochemical” assays, such as detecting the presence of a protein product, e.g., by immunological means (ELISAs and Western blots) or by enzymatic function; plant part assays, such as leaf or root assays; and also, by analyzing the phenotype of the whole regenerated plant.

Once a transgene has been introduced into a plant, that gene can be introduced into any plant sexually compatible with the first plant by crossing, without the need for ever directly transforming the second plant. Therefore, as used herein the term “progeny” denotes the offspring of any generation of a parent plant prepared in accordance with the instant invention, wherein the progeny comprises a selected DNA construct prepared in accordance with the invention. A “transgenic plant” may thus be of any generation. “Crossing” a plant to provide a plant line having one or more added transgenes or alleles relative to a starting plant line, as disclosed herein, is defined as the techniques that result in a particular sequence being introduced into a plant line by crossing a starting line with a donor plant line that comprises a transgene or allele of the invention. To achieve this one could, for example, perform the following steps: (a) plant seeds of the first (starting line) and second (donor plant line that comprises a desired transgene or allele) parent plants; (b) grow the seeds of the first and second parent plants into plants that bear flowers; (c) pollinate a flower from the first parent plant with pollen from the second parent plant; and (d) harvest seeds produced on the parent plant bearing the fertilized flower.

The stably transformed plant tissues and plants can be tested for providing dicamba tolerance by correct processing of DMO protein. Provision of dicamba tolerance in a crop plant can be used for designing a method for controlling weed growth in a growing environment comprising applying to the crop growing environment an amount of dicamba herbicide effective to control weed growth. The dicamba herbicide is applied over the top to the crop growing environment in an amount that does not damage the crop plant or seed transformed with a CTP-DMO construct and damages a crop plant of the same genotype lacking the CTP-DMO construct.

The preparation of herbicide compositions for use in connection with the current invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art in view of the disclosure. Such compositions, which are commercially available, will typically include, in addition to the active ingredient, components such as surfactants, solid or liquid carriers, solvents and binders. Examples of surfactants that may be used for application to plants include the alkali metal, alkaline earth metal or ammonium salts of aromatic sulfonic acids, e.g., ligno-, phenol-, naphthalene- and dibutylnaphthalenesulfonic acid, and of fatty acids of arylsulfonates, of alkyl ethers, of lauryl ethers, of fatty alcohol sulfates and of fatty alcohol glycol ether sulfates, condensates of sulfonated naphthalene and its derivatives with formaldehyde, condensates of naphthalene or of the naphthalenesulfonic acids with phenol and formaldehyde, condensates of phenol or phenolsulfonic acid with formaldehyde, condensates of phenol with formaldehyde and sodium sulfite, polyoxyethylene octylphenyl ether, ethoxylated isooctyl-, octyl- or nonylphenol, tributylphenyl polyglycol ether, alkylaryl polyether alcohols, isotridecyl alcohol, ethoxylated castor oil, ethoxylated triarylphenols, salts of phosphated triarylphenolethoxylates, lauryl alcohol polyglycol ether acetate, sorbitol esters, lignin-sulfite waste liquors or methylcellulose, or mixtures of these. Common practice in the case of surfactant use is about 0.25% to 1.0% by weight, and more commonly about 0.25% to 0.5% by weight.

Compositions for application to plants may be solid or liquid. Where solid compositions are used, it may be desired to include one or more carrier materials with the active compound. Examples of carriers include mineral earths such as silicas, silica gels, silicates, talc, kaolin, attaclay, limestone, chalk, loess, clay, dolomite, diatomaceous earth, calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, magnesium oxide, ground synthetic materials, fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate, ammonium phosphate, ammonium nitrate, thiourea and urea, products of vegetable origin such as cereal meals, tree bark meal, wood meal and nutshell meal, cellulose powders, attapulgites, montmorillonites, mica, vermiculites, synthetic silicas and synthetic calcium silicates, or mixtures of these.

For liquid solutions, water-soluble compounds or salts may be included, such as sodium sulfate, potassium sulfate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium acetate, ammonium hydrogen sulfate, ammonium chloride, ammonium acetate, ammonium formate, ammonium oxalate, ammonium carbonate, ammonium hydrogen carbonate, ammonium thiosulfate, ammonium hydrogen diphosphate, ammonium dihydrogen monophosphate, ammonium sodium hydrogen phosphate, ammonium thiocyanate, ammonium sulfamate or ammonium carbamate.

Other exemplary components in herbicidal compositions include binders such as polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinyl alcohol, partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl acetate, carboxymethylcellulose, starch, vinylpyrrolidone/vinyl acetate copolymers and polyvinyl acetate, or mixtures of these; lubricants such as magnesium stearate, sodium stearate, talc or polyethylene glycol, or mixtures of these; antifoams such as silicone emulsions, long-chain alcohols, phosphoric esters, acetylene diols, fatty acids or organofluorine compounds, and chelating agents such as: salts of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), salts of trinitrilotriacetic acid or salts of polyphosphoric acids, or mixtures of these.

Dicamba may be used from about 2.5 g/ha to about 10,080 g/ha, including about 2.5 g/ha to about 5,040 g/ha, about 5 g/ha to about 2,020 g/ha, about 10 g/a to about 820 g/h and about 50 g/ha to about 1,000 g/ha, about 100 g/ha to about 800 g/ha and about 250 g/ha to about 800 g/ha.

The CTP-DMO constructs can be linked to one or more polynucleotide molecules containing genetic elements for a screenable/scorable/selectable marker and/or for a gene conferring another desired trait. Commonly used genes for screening presumptively transformed cells include β-glucuronidase (GUS), β-galactosidase, luciferase, and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (Jefferson, 1987; Teeri et al., 1989; Koncz et al., 1987; De Block et al., 1984), green fluorescent protein (GFP) (Chalfie et al., 1994; Haseloff and Amos, 1995; and PCT application WO 97/41228). Non-limiting examples of selectable marker genes are described in, e.g., Miki and McHugh, 2004.

The nucleotide molecule conferring another desired trait may include, but is not limited to, a gene that provides a desirable characteristic associated with plant morphology, physiology, growth and development, yield, nutritional enhancement, disease or pest resistance, or environmental or chemical tolerance and may include genetic elements comprising herbicide resistance (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,803,501; 6,448,476; 6,248,876; 6,225,114; 6,107,549; 5,866,775; 5,804,425; 5,633,435; 5,463,175), increased yield (U.S. Pat. RE38,446; 6,716,474; 6,663,906; 6,476,295; 6,441,277; 6,423,828; 6,399,330; 6,372,211; 6,235,971; 6,222,098; 5,716,837), insect control (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,809,078; 6,713,063; 6,686,452; 6,657,046; 6,645,497; 6,642,030; 6,639,054; 6,620,988; 6,593,293; 6,555,655; 6,538,109; 6,537,756; 6,521,442; 6,501,009; 6,468,523; 6,326,351; 6,313,378; 6,284,949; 6,281,016; 6,248,536; 6,242,241; 6,221,649; 6,177,615; 6,156,573; 6,153,814; 6,110,464; 6,093,695; 6,063,756; 6,063,597; 6,023,013; 5,959,091; 5,942,664; 5,942,658, 5,880,275; 5,763,245; 5,763,241), fungal disease resistance (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,653,280; 6,573,361; 6,506,962; 6,316,407; 6,215,048; 5,516,671; 5,773,696; 6,121,436; 6,316,407; 6,506,962), virus resistance (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,617,496; 6,608,241; 6,015,940; 6,013,864; 5,850,023; 5,304,730), nematode resistance (U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,992), bacterial disease resistance (U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,671), plant growth and development (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,723,897; 6,518,488), starch production (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,538,181; 6,538,179; 6,538,178; 5,750,876; 6,476,295), modified oils production (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,444,876; 6,426,447; 6,380,462), high oil production (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,495,739; 5,608,149; 6,483,008; 6,476,295), modified fatty acid content (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,828,475; 6,822,141; 6,770,465; 6,706,950; 6,660,849; 6,596,538; 6,589,767; 6,537,750; 6,489,461; 6,459,018), high protein production (U.S. Pat. No. 6,380,466), fruit ripening (U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,466), enhanced animal and human nutrition (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,723,837; 6,653,530; 6,541,259; 5,985,605; 6,171,640), biopolymers (U.S. Pat. RE37,543; 6,228,623; 5,958,745 and U.S. Patent Publication No. US20030028917), environmental stress resistance (U.S. Pat. No. 6,072,103), pharmaceutical peptides and secretable peptides (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,812,379; 6,774,283; 6,140,075; 6,080,560), improved processing traits (U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,295), improved digestibility (U.S. Pat. No. 6,531,648) low raffinose (U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,292), industrial enzyme production (U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,576), improved flavor (U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,199), nitrogen fixation (U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,114), hybrid seed production (U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,041), fiber production (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,576,818; 6,271,443; 5,981,834; 5,869,720) and biofuel production (U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,700). Any of these or other genetic elements, methods, and transgenes may be used with the invention as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art in view of the instant disclosure.

Alternatively, the one or more polynucleotide molecule linked to CTP-DMO construct can effect the above mentioned plant characteristic or phenotype by encoding a RNA molecule that causes the targeted inhibition of expression of an endogenous gene, for example, via antisense, inhibitory RNA (RNAi), or cosuppression-mediated mechanisms. The RNA could also be a catalytic RNA molecule (i.e., a ribozyme) engineered to cleave a desired endogenous mRNA product. Thus, any polynucleotide molecule that encodes a transcribed RNA molecule that affects a phenotype or morphology change of interest may be useful for the practice of the present invention.

The present invention also discloses a method for producing food, feed, or an industrial product comprising a plant containing a CTP-DMO construct or a part of such a plant and preparing the food, feed, fiber, or industrial product from the plant or part thereof, wherein the food or feed is grain, meal, oil, starch, flour, or protein and the industrial product is biofuel, fiber, industrial chemicals, a pharmaceutical, or nutraceutical.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for improving the standability of a monocot plant comprising: a) obtaining and growing a plant produced by crossing a parent plant with itself or with a second plant, wherein the parent plant and/or the second plant comprises the DNA construct and the dicamba tolerant plant inherits the DNA construct from said parent plant and/or the second plant; and b) treating the plant with dicamba. Parameters relating to standability may be measured, for instance including brace root number, shape, length or structure; percent lodging; and yield. In certain embodiments, the plant is a corn plant.

EXAMPLES

The following examples are included to illustrate embodiments of the invention. It should be appreciated by those of skill in the art that the techniques disclosed in the examples that follow represent techniques discovered by the inventor to function well in the practice of the invention. However, those of skill in the art should, in light of the present disclosure, appreciate that many changes can be made in the specific embodiments which are disclosed and still obtain a like or similar result without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention. More specifically, it will be apparent that certain agents which are both chemically and physiologically related may be substituted for the agents described herein while the same or similar results would be achieved. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Example 1 Preparation of CTP-DMO Constructs for Transformation

DNA constructs as shown in Table 2 were prepared according to standard methods (e.g. Sambrook et al., 1989), comprising a CTP operably linked with a DMO gene, or a variant thereof, between a plant promoter and a polyadenylation signal sequence. These constructs were tested in either a corn protoplast system or in stably transformed Arabidopsis or soybean plants as described below.

TABLE 2 Processing of DMO and DMO variants by different CTPs. % total expres- sion PRT DNA # (band SEQ SEQ DMO of Band Size 1/band pMON Promoter CTP ID ID version 3′UTR Test System Bands (band 1/band 2) 2) 84254 PCISV PsRbcS CTP with coding 1 12 DMOc- RbcS2- Soybean Leaf 2 41 kDa/38 kDa 10/90 region native(A) E9 58498 PCISV PsRbcS CTP with coding 1 12 DMOc- RbcS2- Soybean Leaf 2 41 kDa/38 kDa 50/50 region native(A) E9 73749 PCISV PsRbcS CTP with coding 1 12 DMOc-dc(A) E6 Arabidopsis 2 41 kDa/38 kDa 50/50 region Leaf 73725 PCISV PsRbcS CTP without coding 2 13 DMOw- Nos Arabidopsis 1   38 kDa 100 region dc(A) Leaf 73728 PCISV PsRbcS CTP without coding 2 13 DMOw-dc(L) Nos Arabidopsis 1   38 kDa 100 region Leaf 73729 PCISV AtRbcS CTP (CTP1) 3 14 DMOw- Nos Corn 1 >41 kDa 100 dc(A) Protoplasts 73708 PCISV AtRbcS CTP (CTP1) 3 14 DMOw- Hsp17 Corn 1 >41 kDa 100 mc(L) Protoplasts 73698 FMV AtRbcS CTP (CTP1) 3 14 DMOc-dc(L) RbcS2- Arabidopsis 1 >41 kDa 100 35S E9 Leaf 73731 CaMV AtShkG CTP (CTP2) 4 15 DMOw- Hsp17 Corn 1 ~38 kDa 100 35S- mc(L) Protoplasts enh 73740 PCISV AtShkG CTP (CTP2) 4 15 DMOc- Nos Corn 1 ~38 kDa 100 native(L) Protoplasts 73713 PCISV AtShkG CTP 5 16 DMOw- Hsp17 Corn 1 ~38 kDa 100 (CTP2synthetic) mc(L) Protoplasts 73742 PCISV AtShkG CTP 5 16 DMOc- Hsp17 Corn 1 ~38 kDa 100 (CTP2synthetic) native(L) Protoplasts 73724 PCISV AtShkG CTP 5 16 DMOw- Nos Arabidopsis 1 ~38 kDa 100 (CTP2synthetic) dc(A) Leaf 73727 PCISV AtShkG CTP 5 16 DMOw-dc(L) Nos Arabidopsis 2   >38 kDa/~38 kDa 50/50 (CTP2synthetic) Leaf 73736 CaMV PhShkG CTP 6 17 DMOw- Hsp17 Corn 1 ~38 kDa 100 35S- (CTP4synthetic) mc(L) Protoplasts enh 73747 PCISV PhShkG CTP 6 17 DMOw- Hsp17 Corn 1 ~38 kDa 100 (CTP4synthetic) mc(L) Protoplasts 73714 PCISV TaWaxy CTPsynthetic 7 18 DMOw- Hsp17 Corn 0 — — mc(L) Protoplasts 73716 PCISV TaWaxy CTPsynthetic 7 18 DMOw- Hsp17 Corn 0 — — mc(L) Protoplasts 73733 CaMV OsWaxy CTP 8 19 DMOw- Hsp17 Corn 1 <38 kDa 100 35S- mc(L) Protoplasts enh 73734 CaMV NtRbcS CTP 9 20 DMOw- Hsp17 Corn 2 >41 kDa/38 kDa   75/25 35S- mc(L) Protoplasts enh 73732 CaMV ZmAS CTP 10 21 DMOw- Hsp17 Corn 1 >38 kDa 100 35S- mc(L) Protoplasts enh 73735 CaMV RgAS CTP 11 22 DMOw- Hsp17 Corn 1 >38 kDa 100 35S- mc(L) Protoplasts enh

Example 2 Analysis of CTP-DMO Constructs in Corn Protoplasts

Corn (maize) leaf mesophyllprotoplasts were prepared from 12 days old etiolated seedlings (from a LH200×LH5 cross). The middle parts of the second leaves (about 6 cm in length) were cut to 0.5-mm strips with a razor blade and digested in a flask in an enzyme solution containing 2% (w/v) cellulase RS, 0.3% (w/v) macerozyme R10 (both from Karlan Research Products Corp, Santa Rosa, Calif.), 0.6 M mannitol, 10 mM MES (pH 5.7) and 1 mM CaCl₂, for no more than 2 hr at 23° C. after 30 minutes of vacuum infiltration. Protoplasts from infiltrated and digested leaf tissue were released by shaking the flask by hand for 5 min and separated by filtering through a 60-μm nylon mesh. The protoplasts were collected by centrifugation at 150 g for 2 min, washed in cold 0.6 M mannitol solution once, centrifuged, and resuspended at a 2×10⁶/mL in cold 0.6 M mannitol. The protoplasts were then transformed with 12.5 μg DNA using polyethylene glycol (PEG) and incubated at room temperature for 16 to 20 hr.

The protoplasts were stored at −80° C. until analysis by western blot. The protoplasts were thawed on ice and 1-3 volumes of 2× Laemmli sample buffer/dye (BioRad) with 5.0% β-ME was added to the protoplasts. Aliquots of the protoplast protein samples were then heated to about 100° C. for 5 minutes and loaded onto a pre-cast Tris-HCL 10% polyacrylamide gel. Electrophoresis was performed at a constant current of about 80-100 Amps for about 35 minutes. Protein from the gel was electro-transferred to a 0.2 micron nitrocellulose membrane for 1-3 hours at a constant voltage of 100 V. The membrane was blocked for one hour at room temperature or overnight at 4° C. with 5% (w/v) dry milk in TBST. The membrane was probed with a 1:200 dilution of goat anti-DMO antibody in TBST for one hour. Excess antibody was removed using three 5 min washes with TBS. The membrane was probed with peroxidase-conjugated rabbit anti-goat IgG (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.) at a dilution of 1:7,500 in 0.5% (w/v) dry milk in TBST for one hour. Excess peroxidase-conjugate was removed using three 5 min washes with TBST. All procedures, including blocking, and all other incubations were performed at room temperature, except where noted. Immunoreactive bands were visualized using the ECL detection system (Amersham Biosciences, Piscataway, N.J.) and exposed to Kodak BioMax™ MS film. The presence of immunoreactive bands of the appropriate size indicates proper processing and localization of DMO (Table 1). Thus, for instance, use of CTP4 operably linked to DMO and transformed into corn protoplasts results in a 38 kDa immunoreactive band following western blot analysis.

Example 3 Testing of Various CTP-DMO Constructs in Arabidopsis

Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Columbia plants were transformed according to the method developed by Clough and Bent (1998). Seeds obtained through this method were plated on a plant culture selection medium containing dicamba at various concentrations from 0.5, 1.0, to 2.0 or 4.0 mg/liter. The plates were incubated for 48 hours at 4° C. and then transferred to a Percival incubator set at 23.5° C. with a photoperiod of 16 hours. Seeds that were transformed with CTP-DMO constructs grew into plants on dicamba containing medium and developed primary and secondary leaves, while the untransformed seed and negative segregants either died or did not develop primary and secondary leaves. The transgenic plants that tested positive for the 3′ UTR by Invader® PCR assay were used further for analysis.

Three to five leaf punches from the transgenic Arabidopsis plants were used for western blot analysis. Protein extraction was performed with 500-1000 μl PSBT and 4 glass beads in a Harbil paint shaker for 3 minutes. Samples were spun at 3000 rpm for 3 minutes at 4° C. An equal volume of 2× Laemmli sample buffer/dye (cat. No. 161-0737 BioRad) with 5.0% β-ME was added to aliquots of the supernatant. Remaining steps of the western blot analysis were the same as in Example 2. The presence of immunoreactive bands of the appropriate size indicates proper processing and localization of DMO (Table 2). For instance, as shown in Table 2, in a comparison of bands seen following transformation of Arabidopsis with pMON73749 or pMON73725, use of RbcSnoc-CTP, lacking the 27 aa coding sequence derived from pea Rubisco enzyme resulted in properly processed DMO localized to the chloroplast, while use of the RbcS CTP including the 27 aa coding sequence resulted in two immunoreactive bands.

Example 4 Testing of CTP-DMO Constructs in Soybean

Transgenic soybean (e.g. cvs. Thorne, NE3001 and A3525) plants were obtained by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of soybean using standard procedures (e.g. Zhang et al., 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 7,002,058). Three to five leaf punches from the transgenic soybean plants were used for western blot analysis. Protein extraction was performed with 500-1000 μl PSBT and 4 glass beads in a Harbil paint shaker for 3 min. Samples were spun at 3000 rpm for 3 minutes at 4° C. An equal volume of 2× Laemmli sample buffer/dye (BioRad) w/5.0% β-ME was added to aliquots of the supernatant. The remaining steps of the western blot analysis were the same as in Example 2. The presence of immunoreactive bands of the appropriate size indicates proper processing and localization of DMO (Table 2).

Soybean plants that were transformed with a construct coding for a DMO linked to a pea Rubisco transit peptide attached to an additional 24 amino acids of the Rubisco coding region, and 3 amino acids due to introduction of restriction enzyme recognition sites, showed an injury rate of 17-20% when treated with 0.5 lb of dicamba at pre emergence stage followed by 2 lb of dicamba at post emergence (V6) stage. This compares with soybean plants that were transformed with a construct coding for a DMO linked to a pea Rubisco transit peptide only, that showed an injury rate of about 12%. These results indicate that use of a transit peptide without additional amino acids results in production of a single DMO activity (rather than multiple partially or differently processed polypeptides) and higher tolerance to dicamba. Production of a single form of the enzyme will also lead to ease of product characterization and reduced cost of registration.

Example 5 Efficient Production of DMO and Higher Tolerance to Dicamba Requires a CTP

Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Columbia plants were transformed with several constructs (FIG. 1) as described in Example 3. Transformed seeds were selected on a plant tissue culture medium containing dicamba at various concentrations from 0.5, 1.0, to 2.0 mg/liter. Seeds that were transformed with CTP-DMO constructs grew into plants on dicamba containing medium and developed primary and secondary leaves, while the untransformed seed and negative segregants either died or did not develop primary and secondary leaves. The transgenic plants that grew and tested positive for the DMO gene were used further for analysis.

As shown in FIG. 1, plants that were transformed with constructs without a CTP exhibited little or no tolerance to dicamba. Soybean plants transformed with a DNA construct coding for a DMO without linking it to a CTP showed no pre emergence tolerance whereas plants transformed with constructs where the DMO was linked to the CTP showed both pre and post emergence tolerance to dicamba when treated with 0.5 lb/a of dicamba at pre emergence stage followed by 2 lb/a of dicamba at post emergence (V6) stage.

Example 6 Production of Dicamba Tolerant Transgenic Corn Plants

To test the use of a DMO gene in providing dicamba tolerance to monocots, transgenic corn plants were produced that comprise a DMO gene (e.g. SEQ ID NOS: 29, 33, 35, 37, 39) with or without a transit peptide (e.g. TaWaxy, CTP1, CTP2synthetic, CTP4) under the control of plant gene expression elements such as a promoter (e.g. PClSV, e35S, OsAct1, OsTPI, OsAct15), and an intron (e.g. OsAct1, OsAct15, OsTPI, ZmHSP70). This expression element contains first intron and flanking UTR exon sequences from the rice actin 1 gene and includes 12 nt of exon 1 at the 5′ end and 7 nt of exon 2 at the 3′ end), and a 3′UTR (e.g. TaHsp17).

Transgenic corn plants were produced essentially by the method described in U.S. patent application 20040244075. Transgenic corn events having single copy were evaluated for dicamba tolerance at a single location replicated trial. Six events from each of the six constructs were used. The experimental design was as follows: rows/entry: 1; treatment: 0.5 lb/a of dicamba at V3 stage followed by 1 lb/a of dicamba at V8 stage (Clarity®, BASF, Raleigh, N.C.); replications: 2; row spacing: 30 inches; plot length: minimum 20 feet; plant density: about 30 plants/17.5 ft.; alleys: 2.5 feet. The entire plot was fertilized uniformly to obtain an agronomically acceptable crop. A soil insecticide such as Force® 3G (Syngenta Crop Protection, Greensboro, N.C., USA) at 5 oz. per 1000 ft. of row for control of corn rootworm was applied at planting time. If black cutworm infestation was observed, POUNCE® 3.2EC at 4 to 8 oz. per acre rate (FMC Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa.) was used. In addition, an insecticide spray program was used to control all above ground lepidopteran pests including European corn borer, corn earworm, and fall armyworm. POUNCE® 3.2EC at 4 to 8 oz. per acre was applied every 3 weeks to control lepidopteran pests; about 4 applications were made. The plot was kept weed free with a pre-emergence application of a herbicide such as Harness® Xtra 5.6L (Monsanto, St. Louis, Mo.) and Degree Xtra® (Monsanto, St. Louis, Mo.). If weed escapes were observed in the untreated check, they were controlled by hand weeding or a post-emergence application of PERMIT (Monsanto, St. Louis, Mo.) or BUCTRIL® (Bayer, Research Triangle Park, N.C.) over the entire trial.

Corn inbred lines transformed with DNA constructs comprising a DMO transgene were tested for dicamba tolerance by measuring brace root injury when treated with 0.5 lb/a of dicamba at V3 stage followed by 1 lb/a of dicamba at V8 stage. Brace root injury was evaluated visually by counting the number of plants in a row showing an “atypical” morphology of having the brace roots fused as compared to a typical morphology of “finger-like” structure. As shown in Table 3, corn plants transformed with DNA constructs coding for a DMO without linking it to a CTP (pMON73699, pMON73704) showed higher level of brace root injury, i.e. lower level of protection upon dicamba treatment. The constructs coding for a DMO linked to a CTP (pMON73716, pMON73700, pMON73715, pMON73703) showed lower level of brace root injury, i.e. higher level of protection upon dicamba treatment.

TABLE 3 Percentage brace root injury exhibited by transgenic corn plants transformed with DNA constructs carrying DMO when tested for dicamba tolerance. Inbreds/Constructs Details Brace root injury 01CSI6 Susceptible inbred to dicamba 95.4 LH244 Resistant inbred to dicamba 93.8 pMON73699 PC1SV/I-OsAct1/DMO-Wmc/TaHsp17 93.2 pMON73704 e35S/I-OsAct1/DMO-Wmc/TaHsp17 91.3 pMON73716 PC1SV/I-OsAct1/TaWaxy/DMO-Wmc/TaHsp17 78.8 pMON73700 PC1SV/I-OsAct1/CTP1/DMO-Wmc/TaHsp17 74.4 pMON73715 PC1SV/I-OsAct1/CTP2syn/DMO-Wmc/TaHsp17 68.2 pMON73703 e35S/I-OsAct1/CTP1/DMO-Wmc/TaHsp17 68.8

From these studies in diverse plant species (also, e.g. Examples 3, 4 and 8), a chloroplast transit peptide is useful for efficient targeting of DMO and full production of DMO activity, leading to higher tolerance to dicamba. Further, expression of a CTP-DMO provides pre-emergence tolerance to dicamba in corn.

Example 7 Construction of Efficient DMO Expression Units

Several genetic elements can influence efficient expression of a gene such as a promoter, chloroplast transit peptide sequence, an intron, 5′UTR, coding region of the gene, 3′UTR. However, it is not obvious which combination will work the best. Efficient DMO expression units or constructs are required to produce improved products such as a dicamba tolerant seed and plant. Several DMO expression units were constructed by operably linking one of each various promoters, CTPs, DMO variants, and 3′UTRs to obtain efficient DMO expression units for product development. These constructs were transformed into soybean by methods known in the art (e.g. U.S. Pat. No.s 6,384,301, 7,002,058 or Zhang et al., 1999). Transgenic seeds were obtained and tested for pre- and post-emergence tolerance to dicamba herbicide. Table 4shows the % injury caused by dicamba (lower injury means higher tolerance) when seeds and plants were treated with 0.5 lb/acre of dicamba pre-emergent followed by 2 lb/acre of dicamba post-emergent at V6 stage. Seeds transformed with DNA constructs pMON68939 and pMON73723 that carried no CTP were unable to tolerate pre-emergent application of dicamba indicating that targeting of DMO to chloroplast is required to obtain pre-emergence tolerance to dicamba. Plants transformed with pMON68939 and pMON73723 (without CTP) that were treated with dicamba at post-V3 stage at 1 lb/a rate showed injury rate of 55% and 57% respectively similar to the wild type soybean (60% ) whereas the plants transformed with pMON68938 (with CTP) showed very little injury. These results indicate that a CTP is required for obtaining both pre and post emergence tolerance to dicamba in soybean.

TABLE 4 Percentage injury exhibited by soybean plants transformed with a specific DMO expression unit and treated with dicamba pre-emergent and post-emergent. pMON % Expression Unit designation Injury PC1SV/CTP2syn/DMO-Wat(A)/nos 73724 9 e35S/CTP1/DMO-Wat(L)/nos 68938 12 PC1SV/RbcSnoc/DMO-Wat(A)/nos 73725 12 PC1SV/RbcSnoc/DMO-Wat(L)/nos 73728 12 PCSV/CTP1/DMO-Wat(A)/nos 73729 13 PC1SV/CTP2syn/DMO-Wat(L)/nos 73727 13 ANT1/CTP1/DMO-Wat(L)/nos 68945 14 PC1SV/RbcSnoc/DMO-Wat(A)/nos 73730 15 PC1SV/RbcS-CTP/DMO-Cnat(A)/nos 68934 17 Act7/CTP1/DMO-Wat(L)/nos 68942 17 FMV.35S-EF1a/CTP1/DMO-Wat(L)/nos 68940 17 PClSV/ RbcS-CTP/DMO-Cnat(A) /E9 84254 20 FMV/CTP1/DMO-Wat(L)/nos 68941 29 eIF4A10/CTP1/DMO-Wat(L)/nos 68943 60 e35S/CTP1/DMO-Cat(A)/nos 68937 62 e35S/CTP1/DMO-Cnat(L)/nos 68946 73 e35S/DMO-Wat(A)/nos 68939 100 (Pre) PC1SV/DMO-Wat(A)/nos 73723 100 (Pre)

Example 8 Production of Dicamba Tolerant Transgenic Cotton Plants

To test the use of DMO gene in providing dicamba tolerance to cotton, transgenic cotton plants were produced. Several DNA constructs carrying a DMO coding region (e.g. SEQ ID NOS: 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 35) with a transit peptide (e.g., PsRbcS CTP, CTP1, CTP2) under the control of plant gene expression elements such as a promoter (e.g. PClSV, FMV, or e35S), and a 3′UTR (e.g. E6; Accession # U30508) were produced and transformed into cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) as follows. Media used are noted in Table 5.

Seedlings of cotton cv Coker 130 were grown in vitro and hypocotyl sections were cut and inoculated with a liquid suspension of Agrobacterium tumefaciens carrying a DNA construct, blot dried, and co-cultured for 2 days. Inoculated hypocotyl explants were then transferred to glucose selection medium for 4 weeks, sucrose selection medium for 1 week, and to glucose selection medium for an additional 4 weeks for inducing callus. The cultures were incubated in 16/8 (light/dark) cycle and 28° C. temperature. Kanamycin resistant calli were then transferred to UMO medium and cultured in the dark for 16-24 weeks at 28-30° C. for inducing embryogenic callus. The embryogenic callus was then harvested from these calli and maintained for up to 4-16 weeks in the dark at 28-30° C. on TRP+ medium. Small embryos from the embryogenic callus were harvested and germinated on SHSU medium in 16/8 (light/dark) cycle and 28-30° C. temperature. Plantlets that appeared normal were then transferred to soil to obtain mature cotton plants. The transgenic nature of transformants was confirmed by DNA testing.

TABLE 5 Composition of various media used for cotton transformation. Amount/L Components Glucose Sucrose UMO TRP+ SHSU MS basal salts (Phytotech.) 4.33 g 4.33 g 4.33 g 4.33 g — Gamborg’s B5 vitamins (Phytotech) (500X) 2 ml 2 ml 2 ml 2 ml — 2, 4-D (1 mg/ml) 0.1 ml 0.1 ml — — Stewart and Hsu majors (10X) — — — — 100 ml Stewart and Hsu minors (100X) — — — — 10 ml Steward and Hsu organic (100X) — — — — 10 ml Kinetin (0.5 mg/ml) 1 ml 1 ml — — — Chelated iron (100X) — — — — 1.5 ml Glucose 30 g 30 g 30 g 30 g 5 g Potassium nitrate — — — 1.9 g — Casein hydrolysate — — — 0.1 g — pH 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 6.8 Phytagel (Sigma) 2.5 g 2.5 g — — — Gelrite (Kelco) — — 3.5 g 3.5 g 2.2 g Carbenicillin (250 mg/ml) 1.7 ml 1.7 ml 1.7 ml 1.7 ml — Cefotaxime (100 mg/ml) 1 ml 1 ml 1 ml 1 ml — Benlate (50 mg/ml) — — — 1 ml 1 ml Kanamycin (50 mg/ml) 0.8-1.0 ml 0.8-1.0 ml 1 ml — — Sucrose — 0.1 g — — — Ascorbic acid — — 100 mg

Transformed cotton plants that comprise such a DNA construct, each comprising a different combination of a DMO coding region with a transit peptide, a promoter, and a 3′UTR, were treated with dicamba (Clarity®, BASF, Raleigh, N.C.) as a post-emergent treatment at V4-5 growth stage at the rate of 561 g ae/ha (0.5 lb/a) and found to be tolerant whereas untransformed cotton plants showed an injury rate of 79% to 86%. Transgenic plants showing more than 95% tolerance (equal to less than 5% injury) were selected for further studies. Transgenic plants were also tolerant to a subsequent post-emergent treatment of dicamba. For example, the plants that were treated with 0.5 lb/acre of dicamba at V3-4 stage followed by either 1 or 2 lb/acre of dicamba at V5 or later stages were still tolerant to dicamba. This examples shows that a DMO gene can provide dicamba tolerance to cotton at various stages of growth thus enabling application of dicamba at various stages to obtain effective weed control.

Example 9 Method for Improving Standability of Corn

Certain monocots such as corn produce brace roots which grow from the nodes above the soil surface and help support the plant and scavenge the upper soil layers for water and nutrients during the reproductive stages. A healthy brace root system becomes important if the plants are subjected to high winds or when the underground root system becomes weaker by root worm infection or under soil water deficit. Synthetic herbicide such as dicamba and 2,4-D are permitted for use on monocots such as corn for broad leaf weed control. For post-emergent weed control in corn, dicamba is the 5th most widely used herbicide. Although the optimal rate for broad leaf weed control is between 280 to 560 grams/hectare (g/h) or 0.25 to 0.5 lb/acre, the average use rate in corn is 168 g/h or 0.15 lb/acre as at higher rates and under certain environmental conditions such as on hot days, dicamba can injure corn. In addition, several corn hybrids such as DKC61-42, DKC64-77, DKC63-46, DKC66-21 and DKC61-44 and inbreds such as 01CSI6, 16IUL2, 70LDL5, and 90LCL6 are sensitive to dicamba applications. The sensitivity is manifested in many ways such as occurrence of onion leafing, tassel malformation, reduced plant height, or abnormal brace root formation e.g. fused or twisted root formation. The brace roots become gnarled, tending to grow together and not growing into the soil to support the plant. This may result in poor standability of a corn crop, higher susceptibility to lodging, and eventually yield loss. Several herbicide products that contain dicamba, for example Clarity®, BANVEL, MARKSMAN, DISTINCT, NORTHSTAR, and CELEBRITY PLUS, can cause these effects. Increasing tolerance of corn to dicamba will also be useful in protecting corn fields planted closer to crop species such as soybean and cotton that are tolerant to dicamba and where a higher rate of dicamba application is permitted.

The present example provides a method for improving standability of corn and other monocots by incorporating a DMO gene in corn and treating corn with dicamba. In one embodiment, the DMO gene is expressed under the control of a constitutive promoter that is also capable of expressing DMO in nodal region and/or in brace roots. In another embodiment the DMO gene is expressed under the control of a chimeric constitutive and node/brace root specific promoter. In another embodiment the DMO gene is expressed under the control of a root specific promoter such as RCc3 or a variant thereof (e.g. SEQ ID NOs:1-6 as found in US20060101541). The expression of DMO in brace roots results in no or less injury to brace roots resulting in better standability of corn, less lodging, and therefore better yield.

R1 or F1 seeds of three single copy events from corn plants transformed with various DMO constructs (outlined in Table 6) were germinated in 4.0″ trays. Healthy plants were transplanted into about 10″ pots. Germination and growth media comprised of Redi-earth™ (Scotts-Sierra Horticultural Products Co., Marysville, Ohio). The pots were placed on capillary matting in 35 inch×60 inch fiberglass watering trays for sub-irrigation for the duration of the test period so as to maintain optimum soil moisture for plant growth. The pots were fertilized with Osmocote (14-14-14 slow release; Scotts-Sierra Horticultural Products Co., Marysville, Ohio) at the rate of 100 gm/cu.ft. to sustain plant growth for the duration of greenhouse trials. The plants were grown in greenhouses at 29°/21° C. day/night temperature, with relative humidity between 25%-75% to simulate warm season growing conditions of late spring. A 14 h minimum photoperiod was provided with supplemental light at about 600 μE as needed.

Dicamba applications were made with the track sprayer using a Teejet 9501E flat fan nozzle (Spraying Systems Co, Wheaton, Ill.) with air pressure set at a minimum of 24 psi (165 kpa). The spray nozzle was kept at a height of about 16 inches above the top of plant material for spraying. The spray volume was 10 gallons per acre or 93 liters per hectare. Applications were made when plants had reached V4-5 leaf stage.

Plants of a corn inbred line transformed with DNA constructs comprising a DMO expression unit were tested for brace root injury and lodging by treating with 2 lb/acre or 4 lb/acre of dicamba at V4-5 stage and evaluating the plants for brace root injury (0%; no visible plant injury) to 100% (complete death of plant); and lodging (degree of leaning) at 24 DAT.

As shown in Table 6, corn plants transformed with the DNA constructs having a DMO expression unit showed no or little brace root injury and lodging as compared to untransformed control inbred line and plants transformed with a selectable marker expression unit only (pMON73746). This example shows that DMO containing plants provide can used to provide improved standability when treated with dicamba.

TABLE 6 Corn plants transformed with various DMO constructs show no or little injury to brace roots and lodging when treated with dicamba. Dicamba Application Level 2 lb/acre 4 lb/acre % brace root injury and Inbred/ lodging at construct Event Details of construct 24 DAT 24 DAT control 17.5 31.7 73746 R1 S214540 No DMO expression unit 20.0 28.1 73746 F1 S215886 33.8 40.0 73703 F2 S183001 e35S/I-OsAct1/CTP1-DMO Wmc/TaHsp17 0.9 1.0 73744 F1 S208388 OsAct1/I-OsAct1/CTP2syn-DMOWmc/TaHsp17 0.0 0.2 73744 F1 S208373 0.0 0.4 73744 F1 S208382 0.0 0.0 73747 R1 S207612 PClSV/I-OsAct1/CTP4-DMOWmc/TaHsp17 0.6 1.8 73747 R1 S207608 0.8 1.0 73747 R1 S208367 0.0 0.0 73743 R1 S208476 PCSV/I-OsAct1/CTP2syn/DMO-Cmc/TaHsp17 3.9 19.6 73743 R1 S208469 1.3 22.9 73743 R1 S208071 2.7 13.5 73742 R1 S213404 PClSV/I-OsAct1/CTP2syn-DMO-Cnat/TaHsp17 0.0 0.0 73742 R1 S213395 0.2 0.4 73742 R1 S212111 0.4 0.5

REFERENCES

The references listed below are incorporated herein by reference to the extent that they supplement, explain, provide a background for, or teach methodology, techniques, and/or compositions employed herein.

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The invention claimed is:
 1. A recombinant DNA molecule comprising a DNA sequence encoding a chloroplast transit peptide operably linked to a DNA sequence encoding dicamba monooxygenase, wherein the DNA sequence encoding the chloroplast transit peptide encodes SEQ ID NO:8.
 2. The recombinant DNA molecule of claim 1, wherein the DNA sequence encoding the chloroplast transit peptide comprises SEQ ID NO:19.
 3. The recombinant DNA molecule of claim 1, wherein the DNA sequence encoding dicamba monooxygenase encodes a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:26, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, and
 40. 4. The recombinant DNA molecule of claim 3, wherein the DNA sequence is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:25, 27, 31, 33, 35, 37, and
 39. 5. A DNA construct comprising the DNA molecule of claim 1 operably linked to a promoter.
 6. The DNA construct of claim 5, wherein the promoter is selected from the group consisting of a FMV35S promoter, an At.ANT1 promoter, an FMV.35S-EF1a promoter, an eIF4A10 promoter, an AGRtu.nos promoter, a rice cytosolic triose phosphate isomerase (OsTPI) promoter, a rice actin 15 gene (OsAct15) promoter, and a gamma coixin promoter.
 7. The construct of claim 5, wherein the promoter is functional in a plant cell.
 8. A plant cell transformed with the DNA construct of claim
 5. 9. The cell of claim 8, wherein the plant cell is a dicotyledonous plant cell.
 10. The cell of claim 8, wherein the plant cell is a monocotyledonous plant cell.
 11. The cell of claim 8, wherein the plant cell is a soybean, cotton, maize, or rapeseed plant cell.
 12. A plant tissue culture comprising the cell of claim
 8. 13. The plant tissue culture of claim 12, comprising a dicotyledonous plant cell.
 14. The plant tissue culture of claim 12, comprising a monocotyledonous plant cell.
 15. The plant tissue culture of claim 12, comprising a soybean, cotton, maize, or rapeseed plant cell.
 16. A transgenic plant transformed with the DNA construct of claim
 5. 17. The transgenic plant of claim 16, wherein the plant is a dicotyledonous plant.
 18. The transgenic plant of claim 16, wherein the plant is a monocotyledonous plant.
 19. The transgenic plant of claim 16, wherein the plant is a soybean, cotton, maize or rapeseed plant.
 20. A method for controlling weed growth in a crop growing environment comprising a plant of claim 16 or a seed thereof, comprising applying to the crop growing environment an amount of dicamba herbicide effective to control weed growth.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the dicamba herbicide is applied over the top to the crop growing environment.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein the amount of dicamba herbicide does not damage said plant or seed thereof and damages a plant of the same genotype as the plant, but lacking the construct.
 23. A method for producing food, feed, or an industrial product comprising: a) obtaining the plant of claim 16 or a part thereof; and b) preparing the food, feed, fiber, or industrial product from the plant or part thereof.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the food or feed is grain, meal, oil, starch, flour, or protein.
 25. The method of claim 23, wherein the industrial product is biofuel, fiber, industrial chemicals, a pharmaceutical, or nutraceutical.
 26. A method for producing a dicamba tolerant plant comprising introducing the construct of claim 5 into a plant cell and regenerating a plant therefrom that comprises the construct of claim
 5. 27. The method of claim 26, further comprising producing a dicamba tolerant plant by crossing a parent plant with itself or with a second plant, wherein the parent plant and/or the second plant comprises the DNA construct and the dicamba tolerant plant inherits the DNA construct from said parent plant and/or the second plant.
 28. A method for improving standability of a monocot plant comprising: a) growing a plant or seed produced by the method of claim 27; and b) treating the plant or seed with dicamba.
 29. The method of claim 28, further comprising: c) measuring a standability-related parameter selected from the group consisting of brace root number, shape, length, or structure; percent lodging; and yield.
 30. A method for expressing dicamba monooxygenase in a plant cell comprising growing a plant comprising a nucleic acid construct comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a chloroplast transit peptide (CTP) of SEQ ID NO:8operably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding dicamba monooxygenase, thereby expressing the dicamba monooxygenase.
 31. A dicamba tolerant seed for providing protection against pre emergence application of dicamba comprising a DNA encoding chloroplast transit peptide operably linked to a DNA encoding dicamba monooxygenase, wherein the DNA encoding a chloroplast transit peptide encodes a chloroplast transit peptide comprising SEQ ID NO:8.
 32. The dicamba tolerant seed of claim 31 wherein the DNA encoding the chloroplast transit peptide comprises SEQ ID NO:19.
 33. The dicamba tolerant seed of claim 31, wherein the DNA encodes dicamba monooxygenase comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 26, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, and
 40. 